Countdown to Carlsen-Kramnik

It's the second rest day in Wijk aan Zee before tomorrow's ninth round including the clash between Carlsen and Kramnik. Remember Carlsen won against the former World Champion in London last month.
Ivanchuk has the White pieces against Shirov who begins a double-black.
For subscribers there is a new endgame video (see Videos) plus an analysis of the latter stages of Short-Kramnik (see Notable games, Analysis of the Week) where Short should really have won.

Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790
Jan Smeets	NED	2657	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675
Loek van Wely	NED	2641	Peter Leko	HUN	2739
Nigel Short	ENG	2696	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712
Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720
Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788
Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723

Apart from Carlsen-Kramnik there will be much interest in the game between the unpredictable Ivanchuk and the leader. Shirov will then have to play Anand with the black pieces in round ten, so it won't be easy to retain his lead.

Seed	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2723	6
2=	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	5.5
2=	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	5.5
4	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	5
5=	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	4.5
5=	Peter Leko	HUN	2739	4.5
5=	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	4.5
5=	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	4.5
9	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	4
10	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	3.5
11=	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	2.5
11=	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	2.5
13	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	2
14	Jan Smeets	NED	2657	1.5

B-Group

Of the four leading players only Wesley So has White tomorrow.

David Howell	ENG	2606	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615
Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	Anish Giri	NED	2588
Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643
Wesley So	PHI	2656	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2666
Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	Ni Hua	CHN	2657
Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573
Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681

If anyone is going to catch Anish Giri they will need a big score from their five remaining games.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	GM	Anish Giri	NED	2588	6.5
2=	GM	Ni Hua	CHN	2657	5
2=	GM	Wesley So	PHI	2656	5
2=	GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	5
5=	GM	David Howell	ENG	2606	4.5
5=	GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	4.5
5=	GM	Penteala Harikrishna	IND	2672	4.5
8	GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	4
9	GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2657	3.5
10=	GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	3
10=	GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	3
10=	IM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	3
13	GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	2.5
14	GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	2

Group C

Li Chao-b versus Robson could be decisive for determining the tournament winner.

Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323
Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340
Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447
Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495
Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	Ray Robson	USA	2570
Robin van Kampen	NED	2456	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577
Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515

The three highest rated players are now in the leading three positions, with Gupta (in equal second with Li Chao-b) facing Van Kempen with Black.

Rank	Title	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1	GM	Ray Robson	USA	2570	6
2=	GM	Li Chao-b	CHN	2604	5.5
2=	GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	5.5
4=	GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	5
4=	IM	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	5
6=	IM	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	4.5
6=	GM	Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	4.5
8=	GM	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	4
8=	IM	Robin van Kempen	NED	2456	4
10	FM	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	3.5
11	WGM	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	3
12	FM	Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	2.5
13=	WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	1.5
13=	-	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	1.5

For further information official site